Are plant-based substitutes healthier than meat?

6 Minute English

BBC

Language Learning, Education

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are plant-based substitutes any healthier than the meat options they have replaced? Neil and Georgie discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary.

Find a full transcript, worksheet and interactive quiz for this episode at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2025/ep-250626

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for listening to Six Minute English. Did you know we have a BBC Learning English email newsletter.
0:07.5	Subscribe for our latest lessons, worksheets and quizzes and weekly tips to help you study.
0:13.4	Just search BBC Learning English newsletter or follow the link in the notes for this program.
0:20.2	Six Minute English from BBC learning English.com.
0:27.3	Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
0:31.7	And I'm Georgie. If you've heard about meat-free Mondays or veganary,
0:36.2	you probably know about a trend which an increasing
0:38.8	number of people are trying to reduce or even stop eating meat. This is often for health,
0:45.2	animal welfare or environmental reasons. Instead, people are getting their daily amount of protein
0:50.9	through plant-based alternatives. Meat-free sausages and burgers made using
0:55.5	ingredients like soy, tofu or fungi, as well as temper, beans or nuts. Have you tried any of these
1:02.2	plant-based meat alternatives, Georgie? Yes, I have. I have lots of vegetarian friends, so I've
1:07.3	been to veggie barbecues and have tried the plant-based sausages and burgers.
1:13.2	I quite like them, as long as they're covered in sauce.
1:15.7	What about you?
1:16.9	Yeah, I think I agree.
1:18.4	They're fine.
1:19.9	There's a reason for them, but I'm not sure they're as good as the real thing.
1:23.4	Now, with processed meat being linked to diseases like diabetes and cancer,
1:28.4	most doctors agree that plant-based options are healthier,
1:31.6	but some people are worried about how plant-based alternatives are made,
1:36.5	including radio listener Graham Glover,
	...

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